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A. J. LARCHER.

FORGING METHOD AND APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR-24, I922.

Patented Oct. 31, 1922.-

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1,434,215. Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

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FORGING METHOD AND APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR-24, 1922.

1,434,215. Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

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- FORGING METHOD AND APPARATUS.

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- j Application filed April 24, 1922; Serial No. 556,187.

- To all w ham it may concern Be it known-that I, AL ERT a citizen of the United'States, residing' at Harvey. in the county ot'Cook and Stat'e of Illinois haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in llorging' Methods and Apparatus, of which thefollowing a specification. r

This invention relates to metal working but moreparticnlar'ly to the manufacture of crankshafts, axles, and other similar parts, and' hasfor its principal objects toprovide a simplified andjimproved method of production and a superior product.

Further importantobjects of my invention are to provide a new and improved method of increasing thecross-sectional area of portions of abar of metal, to economize metal. to eliminate reheating, to avoid stretching of the metah 'to eliminate folding back of the metal upon itself, to "improve the grain of the metal, to avoid the use of rolls or rolling dies, to materially reduce the cost of the forming op'eration.v and to permit the forming of a crankshaft with integral counterweights. i

The many other objects and advantages will be better understoodby reference to the following specification when considered in connection with the accoinp'anying drawings illustrating the application of my invention to the manuit'actureo'f 'wanksharfts for reciprocating engines.

Reforringto the drawings i Fig. l is a perspective view of the upper and the lower dies. y Y

Fig. 2 is a section on theline 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the dies for forming the blank the stock being in'position forthe first blow.

Fig. l is the same .as Fig. at the finish ot the first blow.

Fig. 5 is side elevation of the stock at the completion of the first blow.

F igs. 6 to 10 are transverse sections on the correspondingly numbered lines or". Fig. 5.

F 11. is the same as Fig. 3, at the start .01"- the second blow. M v

Fig. 1? is the same as F 3. at the completion oi the second blow.

J. LARCHER,

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the stock at the end of thesecofnd blow.

' Figs. 14 to 18'aretransverse sections on lilecorrespondingly numbered lines of Fig.

Fig. 19is the same Fig. 8, illustrating the position of the dies'and form of the stock after the final blow.

20 is a. side elevation of the stock after the'final blow.

Figs."21 to 25 are transverse sectional views on the correspondingly numbered linesOfjFig. 20.

Fig. 26 is a vertical longitudinal section through the edging dies showing the formed blank in position for the start of the edging operation.

Fig. 27 is the same as Fig. 26 with the edging operation partially completed.

Fig. 28 isthe same as Fig. 26 at the completion of the. edging operation.

Fig. 29 is atop plan view of a modified form oflower die block designed to produce a crankshaft having integral counterweights.

Fig.'30 is a bottom plan View of the upper 'dieblock operating with the lower (lie of Fig. 29. I Fig. 37.. is a vertical longitudinal section of the forming dies of Fig. 29, showing the stock in position for the first blow.

Fig. 321's the same as Fig. 31, showing substantially the position of the dies and the form of the stock at the completion of the first blow.

Fig/3.3 is the same as Fig. 31, at the start oi the second blow.

Fig. 3-1 is the same as Fig. 31, at the completion Of the second blow or final blow.

Fig. 35 is an elevation of the counterweightedcrankshaft blank at the completion of the forming operation. I

Fig. 36 is a section on the line 36-36 of Fig. 35.

Fig. 37 is a vertical longitudinal section of the edging dies or edger, showing the blank in position for the start of the operation. I

Fig. 38 is the same asFig. 37 at the completion of the edging operation, and

Fig. 39 is aplan view of the completely formed formed crankshaft with the counterweights thereon.

The manufacture of crankshafts may be considered to be divided into two parts or stages, theifprming -or sha iigofatlp will} shaft, and the finishing 0 the same. In the first sta e the crankshaft is completely pins; bearings and cheeks in proper pdsifiorif In the' stage the formed shaft is machined andother Se prepared for assembly in an en in'e. e p esent invention relates partic fia or forming stage. The initial step in the manufactured a crankshaft is the forming 9 f the blank.v In ordento provide a blank hav' the per distributlon of metal forthe ormation of the ofi'sets or throws it has usually .been the custom toupset a heated bar in. a;machme provided for the purpose.- The number and position of these upsets in the bar depend largely. on the ,design of the .part pular s aft. Thls upsetting operation iSZSlOWsB-Dzd costly as thebar must be reheated after each-upset is formed. On this account it has been common practice to depend uponone largeupset formed at or near the center of the. bar and the blank} thus formedhasbeen drawn out or stretched'in an edger. A.,t0ug hold W88 generally formed on one end ofthe blank prior tosubmission to the edger in order to facilitate handling. In addition to the dis: advantages already set forth, the upsetting of the bar materially weakensthe metal by folding it back u on itself. The drawin out or stretching o y the. metal in the e ging operation still further reduces its strength. Another method of forming the blank con.- sists in. taking stock having n initial crosssectional area equal to the necessa enlargements on the formed blank and re ucing the remainin portions ofthe stock by drawing. This method is wasteful of stock and generally re uires the use of more than one hammer. heavy hammer is required in the drawing operation.

Instead of upsetting or drawing the stock in the manner described, I enlarge the bar at one or more points to provide the necessary accumulations of metal,,by striking the bar between forging dies which-perform at one operation all the necessary movements of metal including the forming of the tong hold. No reheating is necessary by this integral F method and the entire forming of the crankshaft may be accomplished at a single heating. This method makes it'equallysimple to provide one or many accumulations of metal in the bar, and themetal may be so disposed that practically no stretchin will occur in the subsequent operations. n the operation 'ompri-sing the present invention metal in the stock is simultaneously drawn inwardly toward a central area to be enlarged from outlying areas disposed on opposite i y o th sides thereof, as distinguished from the mere reshaping of the metal already included in such central area.

The drawings are intended to clearly ilwm ithna mdr am imn mdineth- 0d and suitable apparatus for performing the same. In Fig. l is shown an up er block 50-arfd a hr'vher'blhek' fikeat'h' of wiiihcontains'three diesor dieeavitids'; the dies 52 for fominglhe. blank, the edging die or edger 3, and 'tlieshapin die 54. The presentinve ntiomr a to the dies 52 and their association wit t e edging and shapin dies. The particular form of these Jdieswi naturally vary; for different designs of crankshaft, and difi'erent designers might even-prefer dispositions of the metal in the blank but the principles remain the same in all cal es. r

The cavity m the. die 52consists of an elongated recess having depressions 55" at the p nts where accumulations of metal in the b ankaredesired. The remaining orintervening. portions 56 of this recess preferably slope shghtlytwward 'one of these depresslons so that when. the stock is struck be tween these dies the metal will-be caused to flow toward thedepression.v This slope. can be best seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

e operation W of forming the blank is 95 performed by strilgmg a bar of steel a succession of blows between the dies 52. The bar 1s preferably rolled, rotated or turned about its axis through an angle of'approximately 90 after can 'blow. The number of 100 blows necessary to complete this-operation will, vary with different bars so that the Illustration in the drawings of the progress of the work at difierent stages should be understood to be merely explanatory.

Considering the operation in detail, the stock or bar of steel 57 is placed on the lower die in the position indicated in Fig. 3 and struckby the upper die. At the completion of this blow the form of the bar 11 and position of thedies will be substantially as illustrated in Fig. 4. A side elevation of the bar at this stage is shown in Fig. 5, and the various transverse sections in Figs.

6 to 10. Itshould. be noted that a general 11;) flow ofthe metal has started and that some has already entered the depressions.

The bar is nqyi rolled, rotated or turned about its axis through an angle of approximately 90 fromthe position atthecom- 120 pletion of the first blow, replaced on the ower die 52 in its new position, as..indicated in Fig. 11, and agiain struck. The approximatepositiqn of .t e dies and form of the bar at this stage are illustrated in Figs. 125 12 to 18. v

The operation of rolling, rotating or turningthe bar through an angle of approximatel 90 and restriking in the dies iscontinue until the blank is completely formed 180 of the hammer, it has been my experience that a moderate flow of the metal will produce the best crankshaft.

The formed blank is now placed on the lower edging die 53 in the manner indicated in Fig. 26 and struck by the upper die. The movement of the metal observed in the intermediate position (Fig. 27) is interesting as showing that practically no stretching of the-metal takes place. The bar moves by a combined sliding and bending action and the metal is pushed or caused to flow by the faces of the dies, as distinguished from the usual pulling or drawing out of the metal generally occurring in this 0 eration. The final position is indicated in *ig. 28.

' The crankshaft is then removed from the edging dies or edger and struck between the usual shaping dies 54:. In the present embodiment these dies complete the first stage of the crankshaft construction, as the particular shaft is. of the four-throw type in 'which all pins and bearings are in the same plane. In the case of a six-throw crank the shaft would preferably be formed with the pins and bearings in one plane,as in the four-throw, and then subjected to p0s1t1oning dies in the manner described 1n Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,403,696

granted to me January 17, 1922, although any other suitable method of formlng the crankshaft from the blank mightbe used.

At the completion of the shaplng operation in the dies 54, the crankshaft would preferably be submitted to the usual trimming dies (not shown) to remove the flash and preferably restruck thereafter in the shapingidies to true the pins, bearings and cheeks.

The dies 52 perform simultaneously the movement of the metal substantially'longitudinal of the axis of the bar to provide the necessary enlargements and form the tong hold. No cooling of portions of the bar 1s necessary for this operation and, upon the completion of the rolling, rotating .or turning operation, the formed bar is ready to be presented successively to the edger and strength of the shaft. Practically no stretching of the metal takes place andthe action in the edger is one of bending andsqueezing rather than of pulling. The squeezing or pushing of the metal causes it to flow into the va-rious depressions in the dies. By enlarging portions of the bar to the necessary size, as distinguished from the method of using a. bar initially of the size of the enlargements and reducing the remaining pol" tions, a substantial saving in materials and labor is provided.

My improved forging method is particularly advantageous in the manufacture of crankshafts with integral counterweights. In modern shop practice, counterweights have generally been attached to the shaft by bolting, welding, shrinking or a variety of other methods on account of the almost prohibitive cost of all known methods of forming these parts integral or in one piece, but it has been generally recognized that the shaft with integral co-unterweights is far superior to one having the co-unterweights attached. Heretofore in the manufacture of crankshafts with integral counterweights, the blank has generally been formed by upsetting or drawing. Some of the disadvantages of these methods have been set forth in connection with the previous embodiment. By my improved method the necessary accumulations of metal for the ollsets or throws and the counterweights are econon1ically provided in the blank at a single operation even where large counterweights are re- 1 quired.

Referring to- Figs. 29 to 39 inclusive of the drawings, the upper die block 200 and the lower die block 210 are provided with corresponding dies or die cavities which in the present embodiment consist of dies 220 for forming the blank, edging dies'or an edger 230, and shaping dies 240. The cavity in the dies 220 consists of an elongated recess having depressions 250 at the points where accumulations of metal in the blank are re quired. The remaining portions'260 of the die cavities preferably slope toward one of thesedepressions for the purpose set forth in connectionwith the previous embodiment. The forming of the blank is accomplished by alternately striking and turning, rotating or rolling the bar of steel between the dies 220 in the manner previously described. The number of blows necessary to complete the forming of the blank will vary with different bars so that the illustration in the drawings of the progress of the work at different stages should be understood to be merely explanatory.

Considering the operation in detail, the stock or bar 270 of steel is initiallyplaced on the lower die insubstantially the manner illustrated in Fig. 31 of the drawings and struck by the upper die. Fig. 32 shows substantially the position of the dies and the form of the stock at the completion of the first blow. The stock is then rolled, rotated or turned about its axis through an angle preferably of approximately 90 and re pla ed in its new osition on the Lower die in the manner in icated in F1 33. It is some flow Substantially lo 'tudinally oi the axis f the bar toward t e portion to be enthen ruckby the u per die. his opera larged tion of ternately rolling, or turn- 3. he method of forming a projection on mg and restrikin the stopk u d be conone side of a bar oi metal which consists in tinned untilthe blank is comp ly formed, subjecti the bar to, transverse dpessure beas indicated in Figs. 34 to 3rd.

The formed blank is next upon the lower ed'l ging die 230 in the manner indicated in fig. 3.7 and struck by the upper die. At the completion of the operation the cranknlmft is in the form shown in 'l he ed .ed crankshaft is then placed in the shaping -'es 240 in the usual manner. A

'ng struck in the shaping the crankshaft is trimmed and trued 1n the manner de e In the formin of the blank, enlargements 280 are provid at thev necessary parts of the bar and this metal is forced by the action of the edging dies into the corresponding depremipns 290 in these dies to form lateral projections 300 which are shaped by the depliesaions 310 of the dies 240 into integral counterweights 320 (Fig. 39). The counterweighted crankshaft is produced by my proved method as simply and easily as a shaft without counterwei hts and no difficulty is encountered in orming counterwei hts of large size.

' e particular dies shown in the drawings designed to produce a, crankshaft of the four-throw, three bearing type, but any other form of crankshaft may be produced in the same manner.

While I have confined the illustration and description of, my. improved method to the manufacture of crankshafts, it is obvious that it is equally applicable to the production of a very large number of other articles, such as axles or cam shafts.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of enlarging the crossrsectional area of a portion of amber of metal which consists in heating the bar, and subjecting the adjoining portions of the heated bar on opposite sides of the portion to be enlarged to substantially transverse pressure between the working faces of relatively neciprocating die' members to cause metal in said adjoining ortions to flow towardithe portion tqibe en larged, the portions of said faces contacting with the adjoinin of said bar being inclined toward tfi to be enlarged. I

2. The method of enlarging the cross-sectional area of a portion of abar of metal which consists in heating the bar and rolling the heated bar between relatively reciprocating die members having inclined wor ing faces exerting a transverse'pressure on the portions of the bar on opposite sides of the portion to be enlarged to cause. metal n ai p s te Po ions to simultaneously portions e portion tween re atively rooiprocati members having. a depress on mom: 0 sa d members correspondingsubstantially in contour to the projection to be formed and inclined, surf ces on ppos te sid hereof leading to i d pre sants use m tal n outlying areas of the bar to be moved substant ally longitudinally of the axis of said bar toward said depression to fill the same.

4. The method of forming a projection on one side of heated bar of metal which consists in subjecting bar to transverse p ssur between relativ y re procat g die members having a depression in the workin face, of one of, said members correspon mg in contour to the projection to be formed and inclined surfacesleading to said depression on opposite sides thereof to cause metal in the bar to be simultaneously moved from outlying portions of the bar toward said depression tq fill the same.

5. Forging apparatus comprising relatively reciprocating die members having a depression formedv in the working face of one of said members, portions of said working face on opposite sides of said depression sloping toward said depression to cause metal of the stock disposed opposite said slopin portions to be simultaneously moved inwar y toward said depression to fill the same.

6. Forging apparatus comprising relatively reciprocating die members having workin faces, forminglan elongated die cavity, an provided wit a transverse depression intermediate the ends of said cavity, portions of the die cavity on opposite sides of said depression slopin toward said depression to cause the meta of adjoining portions of the stock to be simultaneously moved inwardly alon the die cavity toward said depression to fil the same.

7. The method of making a crank shaft which consists in enlarging the cross-sectional area of one or more portions of a heated bar of metal by subjecting the bar to transverse ressure between relativel reciprocating die members to form the b ank, and forming offsets in the blank.

8. The method of making a crank shaft which consists in enlarging the cross-sectional area of one or more portions of a heated bar of metal by subjectin the same to transverse pressure between re atively reciprocatin diemembers to form the blank, forming o sets'in the blank, and submitting the blank to she in dies.

9. The method 0% making a crank shaft which consists in enlarging the cross-sec- 10. The forging method which consists in heating a bar of metal, enlarging the crosssectional area of one or more portions thereof by subjecting the heated bar to lateral pressure between inclined faces of relatively reciprocating die members to form the blank, subjecting the blank to edging dies to form one or more offsets therein, and shaping the edged. blank between shaping dies. 11. The method of making a crankshaft which consists in enlarging the cross-sectional area of one or more portionsof a heated bar of metal by rolling the bar between relatively reciprocating die members to form the blank, forming the throws in the blank, and shaping the formed blanln 12 The method of making acounterweighted crankshaft blank which consists in heati :1, bar of metal, and enlarging the cross-sectional area of the bar at substan tially the counterweight positions by subjecting the bar to lateral pressure between relatively reciprocating die members.

13. The method of making a crankshaft with integral counterweights which consists in heating a bar of metal, enlarging the cross-sectional area of the bar at substantially the counterweight positions by subjecting the heated bar to lateral pressure to form the blank, subjecting the blank to edging dies to form the throws and counterweights, and shaping the edged blank.

1-1. The method ofmaking a crank-shaft with integral counterweights which consists in heating a bar of metal, enlarging the cross-sectional area of certain portions of the bar including the counterweight positions by rolling the heated bar between relatively reciprocating forging dies, breaking down the blank in an edger to form the throws and counterweights, and submitting the edged blank to shaping dies.

15. The method of enlarging the cross-sectional. area of a section of a bar of metal which consists in subjecting the adjoining sections of the bar on opposite sides of the section to be enlarged to substantially tran' verse pressure between the working faces of die members to cause the masses of metal composing said adjoining sections to flow longitudinally of the axis of the bar toward the portion to be enlarged, the portions of one of said faces contacting with said adjoining sections being inclined toward the section to be enlarged.

16. Forging apparatus comprising relatively reciprocating die members having a cavity formed in the working face of one of said members and gradually tapering channels in said face extending from opposite sides of said cavity to cause the mass of metal of the stock disposed opposite said channels to simultaneously flow inwardly toward said cavity to fill the same.

17. Forging apparatus comprising relatively reciprocating die members having a cavity formed in the working face of one of said members and gradually tapering channels in said face extending from opp0- site sides of said cavity to cause the metal of relatively remote portions of the stockto flow inwardly in opposite directions toward said depression to fill the same.

18. The method of forming an enlargement in an intermediate point in the length of a bar of initially substantially uniform cross section which. consists in simultaneously effecting elongatory movements of separated spaced portions of said bar of substantial length in opposite directions so as to cause the said elongatory movements to oppose each other thereby to cause compression by means of said elongatory movements while permitting expansion of such compressed portion to occur, said elongatory movements being efiected by transverse pressure initially applied to portions of said bar remote fromthe point to be enlarged and subsequently applying said transverse pressure progressively toward the point at which the enlargement is to be formed.

ALBERT J LARCHER. 

